Food for Thought: What foods do the candidates refuse to eat?

The presidential candidates were recently asked the most important question of the campaign: What food do you hate to eat? Here’s what the candidates told The Associated Press:

Hillary Clinton: “I like nearly everything. I don’t like, you know, things that are still alive.”

John Edwards: “I can’t stand mushrooms. I don’t want them on anything that I eat.”

Rudy Giuliani: “Liver.”

Mike Huckabee: “Carrots. I just don’t like carrots. I banned them from the governor’s mansion when I was governor of Arkansas because I could.”

John McCain: “I eat almost everything. Sometimes I don’t do too well with vegetables.”

Barack Obama: “Beets, and I always avoid eating them.”

Mitt Romney: “Eggplant, in any shape or form. And I’ve always been able to avoid it.”

Critic’s Cupboard: Kellogg’s K20 Protein Water Mix

Poured into a bottle of water, each single-serve packet of powder is meant to take the edge off hunger between meals. Flavors are strawberry kiwi, iced tea and pink lemonade. A packet has 30 calories, 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein. The testers, who tasted the strawberry kiwi flavor, found the taste “sickeningly sweet” and wondered about the need for the product. “If I want protein, I’ll eat a cheese stick and hard-boiled egg.” “I like to use my protein calories on something to eat.” “A big glass of plain water helps curb my appetite.” Would they buy it? No, they all said. –- State Journal-Register

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat. In a small bowl, combine the cheese, bacon, parsley, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Lay the chop flat on cutting board, and with a sharp knife held parallel to the board, cut a pocket into the pork, going all the way to the bone, but leaving the sides intact. Stuff cheese mixture into pocket, and close with a wooden toothpick. Brush meat with oil, and season with salt and more black pepper. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes on each side, or until pork is done. Careful not to overcook! (You also can use boneless chops and make these in pan instead of the grill.) -- Allrecipes.com

Number to Know: 608

Calories in a one portion (about eight chips) of nachos with cheese and jalapenos. -- www.thecaloriecounter.com

Wise to the Word

Khachapuri (kah-chah-POOR-ee): Similar to the Italian calzone, khachapuri is a yeast-dough "package" filled with cheese and baked until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly. This Russian specialty hails from Georgia and comes in various forms, from round to football-shaped, and from a simple and flat to that of a pleated-turban design. It's generally served hot or at room temperature. -- www.epicurious.com

From The Beer Nut’s Blog

I pride myself on not making fun of a beer until I actually try the beer. … Recently, though, I broke my personal rule. I repeatedly made fun of the new Budweiser & Clamato Chelada and Bud Light & Clamato Chelada from Anheuser-Busch. I figured there was no way this could be good. But how did I really know this? I never had Clamato. So I decided to test the products myself.

I first tried the Budweiser & Clamato Chelada. It comes in a 16-ounce can. … It was red, but not a deep, ruby red like pure tomato juice. It stunk of a mixture of beer, tomatoes and something I could not place. It was the taste that was hard to get by. It was just bad. Beer, tomatoes, lime, salt and clam juice just don’t mix well. It seems like all of the tastes were fighting each other, using your tongue as a battlefield and leaving your taste buds begging for help. … Next, I moved on to the Bud Light & Clamato Chelada. It was much of the same, with the beer taste being overtaken a bit more by the Clamato. I drank another 4 to 6 ounces and poured the rest out. -- For more beer-related articles, visit Norman Miller’s blog at http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut.

Wine Tips: Letting a Red Wine Breath

Letting a wine breathe means that you expose the wine to the air to help start the exchange of wine molecules with air molecules. This has an affect on the wine’s flavor as well as making it easier to smell.

Decanting is all about removing sediment from a wine and allowing the wine to breathe. These are things that older red wines do -- young wines and white wines do not usually have to be decanted.

If you're going to create a positive affect on the wine, you have to create a large surface area for the wine and air to react across. This is where decanting comes into play. Decanters are deliberately designed to expose large amounts of wine to the air. This helps the wine “wake up” and start to have a full aroma after years of being in the bottle. -- WineIntro.com.